Hospitality

Enabling Advanced Mobile Connectivity forHospitality Venues

“The Republican National Convention (RNC) is an important milestone for the upcoming elections. With the multitude of visitors expected, the need to upgrade our wireless service was imperative. We chose to work with ExteNet because of their technical expertise and we are extremely pleased with their highly responsive and knowledgeable team that helped design and develop the communications network for our guests.” – General Manager, Westin Tampa Harbour Island

In 2013, the RNC visitors – including delegates, media attendees and others – convened in downtown Tampa Bay and benefited from ExteNet Systems’ mobile and cellular connectivity in the downtown areas surrounding the RNC convention. Alongside, the Westin Tampa Harbour Island Hotel was also enhanced with seamless mobile broadband connectivity. The Indoor Distributed Antenna Systems (IDAS) network at the Westin Hotel, with AT&T as the first carrier-tenant, offered seamless coverage for more than 350,000 square feet of hotel and convention space, including 299 guest rooms during the RNC.

The technology demands of hotel guests have evolved rapidly in the past few years. No longer can hotels simply provide wireless services to support low bandwidth laptop connections and sparse, and to a great extent non-existent, mobile use. Today, hotel guests expect a seamless wireless experience - no dropped mobile calls and high bandwidth cellular and wireless data connectivity — from the moment they leave the taxi, through the hotel lobby, up the elevator and into a private room. These expectations exist because guests are experiencing changing cellular and wireless environments wherever they go. Seamless commercial cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity is an integral part of the guest experience.

Guests’ mobile connectivity requires a robust and property-wide, integrated communications network. Unlike basic requirements like lighting, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning, to name a few, many properties have limited commercial or cellular connectivity. This results in frustrated guests and, with the rise in social media, potential exposure to negative online sentiments. For hotels to capitalize on future business, including being in the running for future mega events, the hotel’s cellular and wireless infrastructure must be primed and ready.

ExteNet Systems, a leader in providing Outdoor and Indoor Wireless Distributed Networks, works with a host of leading branded Hotels, Convention Centers and other Hospitality venues - like Omni Hotels, Westin Hotels and Trump Tower in Chicago, to name a few - to enable advanced mobile and cellular connectivity throughout the venue at little to no cost to the venue. ExteNet works with the wireless service providers (WSPs) like AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile to ensure that their 3G and 4G LTE broadband wireless services can be enabled in the shortest time-frame on the distributed networks deployed in these hospitality venues.

In addition, ExteNet offers a less obtrusive and aesthetically more viable option for indoor mobile and cellular connectivity with the potential for installing the wireless network elements in the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) ducts and propagating the wireless signals from within the ducts. Referred to as the iDUCT® technology, this method of mobile and cellular connectivity ensures a lower cost of ownership, rapid installation & deployment timeframes, alongside the aforementioned aesthetic benefits. The iDuct/HVAC deployments work best in buildings with centralized HVAC infrastructure, such as a high rise office and hotel spaces as evidenced in the iconic Trump Tower distributed network. Hybrid solutions of both traditional architectures as well as iDUCT® technology are also utilized where appropriate.

The days of PBX revenue are limited as most guests transition away from using landlines. Likewise, although Wi-Fi is a part of the solution, most recognize that Wi-Fi alone will not address guest’s needs for seamless wireless service throughout a hotel facility or to address rising capacity needs. Most experts today recognize that a commercial cellular network is required to address performance improvements including stronger signals, fewer dropped calls, less static, improved sound quality, seamless mobility and quicker transmission of media rich content.

Hotel owners and management companies have a common goal – provide patrons and guests an enriched experience, improve their loyalty base and most importantly, bring the paying guests back to their venue repeatedly. Broadband cellular connectivity within a venue helps improve the guest experience. Today’s travelers, families and others have immense choices. Every venue strives to distinguish its facility and offering from others. Strengthened indoor mobile and cellular connectivity can propel the venue’s attraction immensely and help improve the guest and patron experience to lure them back to the venue consistently.